my new fig!!!!

[Ray M]

Hi Griffo,
Give your fig a dose of Seasol now. Leave it for a week and then give it a dose of Charlie Carp or Powerfeed. The Seasol is like a tonic to the plant, it is not a balanced fertilizer.

I am very pleased to see the growing box you have made, it will make a big difference.

Regards Ray

[Ray M]

Hi Griffo,
You should give your fig a dose of Seasol now. Leave it for a week and give the tree a dose of Charlie Carp or Powerfeed. Seasol is like a tonic to the tree, it is not a balanced fertilizer.

Regards Ray

[bonsai_Dan]

Oh right so its not a full on fertilizer. Thats good to know. I will buy some now my self i think. Might help with my young fig.

Cheers
Dan

[kcpoole]

Nice Box Griffo
Bonsai on the move

Yes Seasol now for a few weeks, then fertilse


Ken

[griffo84]

thanks ray,and no probs about the double up!

[griffo84]

I just want to get peoples on my soil choice i hope its ok, i used cactus and succulent mix which is meant to be free draining alot of scoria,crushed gravel and course river sand,does this sound ok?

[Ray M]

Hi Griffo,
Your soil sounds fine. It certainly sounds like it will be open and free draining. One thing to keep in mind when using a mix like this is that it will drain well, so if you are in a very hot place you may even have to water twice a day. With a free draining soil mix, and watering so much, keep an eye on your fertilizer. Each time we water a certain amount of fertilizer is leached out of the soil. With a open mix you may find the fertilizer will be leached out more quickly.

Regards Ray

[Tony Bebb]

Hi Griffo

Cool box man. Ready for travel.

Seasol is good straight away. It is technically a plant booster not a fert, and is good to apply when root pruning, even dunking the tree in a seasol solution after it is root pruned but before it is potted is ok. Seasol can be used in conjunction with fert in the same watering can, or you can get seasol powerfeed which is already combined. I use seasol when potting, and then with charlie carp later.

Tony

[griffo84]

im worried about my fig,the leaves are turning yellow i pluck about 5 yellow leaves off and then 3 days later there is another 5 yellow leaves,the buds have not opened at all and does not seem to be any growth,can some one halp me please

[bonsai_Dan]

Are the veins still a dark green colour?

[griffo84]

i just had a look then nah the viens dont look to be a deep green colour

[rch003]

Interesting from the charlie carp site

Can I use Charlie Carp on native plants?
As natives are regarded as being phosphorous intolerant, it is advised to use Charlie carp at half the recommended rate before moving up to full rate. Current ratio of N: 9.0 P: 2.0 K: 6.0)

Alright so, just repotted my maples, figs.

Little root prune, leaf/branch prune and wiring.

Put them in morning sun/shade.

Gave them some seasol (white bottle) and next day some power feed.

Now maples need low or no nitrogen in autumn etc, what is recommended for that?

Whats the difference between powerfeed and charlie carp or are they pretty much the same?

[Taffy]

As natives are regarded as being phosphorous intolerant, it is advised to use Charlie carp at half the recommended rate before moving up to full rate.

Mate, figs don't come in to that category of being phosphorous intolerant. They will take anything you can throw at them - and then look around for more!

With regards to natives being Phosphorous intolerant, again, use the search for phosphorous and intolerance. Failing that, drop Pup a quick pm asking him to point you in the direction of suitable topics. I'm sure he's posted a few times about the subject.

By what I've been able to research, Power Feed has fish products plus other stuff in it. Charlie Carp is made from the European Carp that they drag out of the rivers. So they make use of an introduced feral pest. At least the Carp are good for something

One fertilizer with low nitrogen that I know of is 'Compact', but I've no idea where you might source it from. Maybe someone else here knows.

[rch003]

Haha yeah figs are awesome, i took some 5inch circumference cuttings the other week and they took root that day

going to do an air layering tomorrow of a really big branch, been doing lots of research on encouraging back budding etc, i defoliated and pinched new shoots of figs that were growing away from the design, trying to get more roots etc ^_^

Also going to go to big and find a nice buxus

[Bretts]

Great advice Tony. I know figs are meant to be indestructible but I have lost the odd smaller one over the years. It always seems to be in wet mixes and the trees seem to suffer root death after leaf fall. This seems to contradict the "Fast growth Method" I have been experimenting with from here
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3173&p=69739&hilit ... tem#p69739
It does seem that Figs love Dynamic lifter but if these guys are sensitive of wet soil, I wonder how they grow so well in a slurry of dynamic lifter.
Maybe the trees I have lost are unhealthy from the cold or other factors using less water and that is why I blame wet soil?

Is the wet soil generally just a symptom of the tree being unhealthy in figs or is the wet soil the reason for the trees ill health?

Hi Brett

Figs don't like a constantly wet soil that's for sure. It can be both a symptom and a cause, but most likely the cause. They prefer a very open free draining mix as do most trees, and if the soil stays wet the tree can't breath or grow roots freely. That's why it is so important to let them get dry between watering, especially after potting as the soil stay wetter for longer. The dynamic lifter or similar should only be applied to the top of the soil and this usually will not create a problem.

Tony

Great advice Tony simple and to the point you know your stuff. But I still wonder how the figs are so happy growing in a slurry of dynamic lifter as in the fast growth system thread linked above It has me curious